The Wireless Operator's Portal

Your wireless operator already has a portal for you! If you got your phone from the operator (or an authorized reseller), the portal's URL is probably already defined in the Bookmarks section of your Services browser. In this section, I'll use T-Mobile USA's T-Zones service as an example. Other operators' mobile portals are similar.

For most operators, you need to register an account on the operator's web site to personalize the portal content. The T-Mobile USA web site is http://www.t-mobile.com/. Your account is associated with your phone number. You can check your bills, minutes, and service subscriptions from the web site. Of course, you also can customize your portal via the web site. To get this customization page, click the T-Zones Settings link toward the top of the page after you log in.

From the web-management interface, you can even preview the portal configured for the mobile device.

Then, to access the T-Mobile portal from the phone's Services browser, enter the web address http://wap.myvoicestream.com/. On the phone browser, the portal page is divided into sections, and you can navigate through them via a series of menu-like links. Notice that the theaters listed on the mobile portal page are the same ones configured in the management interface.

A key benefit of using the wireless operator's portal is that your device is automatically logged into the account, without requiring you to type a user-name and password on the keypad. How does that work? Well, recall that your portal account is associated with your phone number. Since the wireless operator knows where a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) request originated (i.e., your phone number) at the WAP gateway, it can automatically log you into the portal.

Now, let's dig deeper into the content and services the T-Mobile portal offers. Other wireless operators have similar options.